
{\bf University of Pennsylvania, School of Engineering and Applied Science\\
General Robotics, Automation, Sensing and Perception (GRASP) Laboratory }

      
The GRASP Laboratory in the School of Engineering and Applied Science (SEAS) is an interdisciplinary laboratory dedicated to research and education in robotics.  The faculty and students belong to several different SEAS departments, including Computer and Information Science, Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mechanics, and Electrical and Systems Engineering. In support of this proposal, the Lab provides both space for experiments and significant computing power for modeling and testing as well as electrical and mechanical manufacturing and prototyping machinery.  In addition, the Lab's diverse researchers provide expertise to fuse theory, simulation, and practice into working systems. 

The GRASP Lab is located in the heart of the SEAS campus, which lies at the prominent northeast corner of Penn's campus.  It spans approximately 7000 square feet of adjacent space.  Its expansive computing facilities comprise approximately 25 workstations for general computing as well as 25 workstations and 20 laptops dedicated to specific projects. The Lab's diverse projects employ mobile ground robots, aerial robots, robot manipulators, and sophisticated sensor systems.  The Lab also has an optics laboratory for developing omni-directional and hyper-spectral (IR and UV) sensors.  

A modular robotics centric part of the GRASP lab ``modlab'' includes a 1400 sq foot lab space used for land running, climbing, digging, self-assembly and flying experiments. There are a large variety of modular robot systems currently used and reused in a variety of experimental systems. The lab has approximately 100 CKBot modules of the V1.1 another 100 CKbot V1.2 modules, plus another dozen prototypes of specialized modules that include grippers, fast dynamic modules, continuous modules, smart-camera modules etc. Integral to this lab are electronics prototyping, soldering and SMD re-work stations, fine metalworking equipment for creating and testing small electromechanical systems being developed.  We have developed a shape deposition modeling capability combining CNC machining with rapid formation of polyurethane resins including embedded actuators, sensors and computation.

Modlab sits across the hall from the student machine shops which includes three laser cutters, four manual milling machines, five manual lathes, three Prototrak hybrid mills, three CNC mills (Fadal VMC-15X, Haas MiniMill, Haas OfficeMill), one CNC lathe (Haas TL-1),  a small injection molding machine, vacuum forming machine, and assorted other metal prototyping equipment.  We also have one Dimension Elite FDM printer and one Objet30 photo-resin printer.
The GRASP lab also contains ground truth sensing systems including two vision based Vicon 6DOF motion capture systems, 240 and 1000 fps high speed camera systems.

{\bf University of Pennsylvania, School of Nursing\\
Living Independently for Elders (LIFE) and Kearsley Apartments}

At present there are 43 members living in the SUPPORTIVE APARTMENT LIVING part of Kearsley Apartments - this means they live on one of 3 floors- the 2nd, 3rd or 5th that is staffed with caregivers- nursing assistants - with between 2 and 5 caregivers staffing all three shifts to  provide personal care, medication reminders and round on a regular basis.  (http://www.kearsleyrehab.com/). 

{\bf Savioke, Inc.}

Situated in the heart of Silicon Valley, Savioke is a small business dedicated to research and development of service robotics. The core team includes experts in ROS, robot navigation, computer vision, human-robot interaction, and industrial design. In support of this proposal, Savioke provides laboratory space for assembling and testing robot prototypes, as well as computing power and mobile devices necessary for developing and testing human-robot interfaces for elder care. In addition, Savioke's connections to the service industry include partnerships with local elder care institutions which can provide additional validation and paths to market.
